@ 4G World: Verizon, Alcatel-Lucent explore enterprise opportunities

CHICAGO—In a dual-presentation keynote this morning, Verizon Wireless and Alcatel-Lucent detailed how the LTE network, paired with new devices and applications will drive mobile enterprise adoption and present operators with new ways to make money. Both presenters said video conferencing could be a popular app.
In healthcare, clinicians will have an easier time collaborating on patient care over the LTE network, said Ken Wirth, president of 4G/LTE networks, at Alcatel-Lucent. Patient after-care can also go mobile with remote blood pressure monitors and glucose monitors that connect back to the healthcare provider. The revenue model for that kind of application could be similar to the Amazon Kindle model, where the end user isn’t directly billed by the wireless operator for wireless access.
As 4G networks get built, devices will change to accommodate new applications, Wirth said, noting that people will move beyond smart phones and netbooks, to machine-to-machine connections, the connected car, and individual devices in the home connecting to the network.
Drilling down to the connected home, Mike Laman, president, enterprise and government markets at Verizon Wireless, said a major manufacturer plans to deploy embedded chips in washers and dryers to offer pre-emptive maintenance opportunities.
Laman also detailed how a home improvement company plans to use video conferencing to offer plumbing expertise in their stores. Retired plumbers can be put on video to answer customer questions over the LTE network.
Monetization schemes can range from mobile advertising to the Kindle model to a pay-per-clip and pay-per-dip model, Wirth said. “We can expose the network infrastructure in a controlled way so that service providers can offer new services and applications, even ones not yet invented,” Wirth said.
Laman noted that Verizon Wireless has brought 400 chief information officers into Alcatel-Lucent facilities in the last 18 months. Those CIOs want the network intelligence so they can support applications like presence on multiple devices, writing the app only once and knowing it can be supported in a secure environment in the cloud. The CIOs also are interested in the global partnerships that Verizon Wireless has forged and in the economies of scale that LTE brings to market as it is adopted worldwide.
The enhanced connectivity LTE brings to market can benefit sales forces, Laman said, with a truly mobile office. That mobility can enable companies to lower their bottom-line costs because they won’t have to support as many brick and mortar offices. Likewise, robust video-conferencing can lower business travel costs.